SENIORS!!!

Mark your calendars for these important dates!

1. Senior Panoramic Picture: Next Friday, 3rd period. If you would like to get your own copy pick up an order form from the table in the front of 313.

2. Senior Graduation Check will be in your English class; my appointed date is Thursday, September 9. If you have ANY questions for your counselor be prepared for Thursday next; these will be small-group meetings but individual questions can be addressed. VERY IMPORTANT. PLEASE DON'T BE ABSENT.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

So much work, so little time. . .

Gifted English II: Sophys, your Othello paper is due tomorrow by 3 p.m. in my hand (Friday, 3/19) AND on turnitin.com OR by e-mail to me by midnight that night. See me if you have questions; we will go over format once more today. THEN: Finish the questions on page 1147 of the Pearson text and review for the Othello test tomorrow. No worries! You KNOW this play!

APees: Review Jane Eyre, Chapters 13-20; go over tone vocabulary for the AP exam; possibly analyze a sonnet. In other words, a great day in AP Land. For me, anyway. Enjoy!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Beware the Ides of March; the Ides of March, beware! Mwahahahahahahahaha. . .

Some general housekeeping: A river of graded work needs to go back today, and for those of you who have been racking up absences, please see me ASAP to get make-up quizzes, etc. back on track. I am uploading grades for this quarter beginning next Wednesday, March 24, so the sooner the better. Go, ProgressBook, go.

ALSO: Several of you have asked for reprints of rec letters for scholarships. See me as soon as possible to facilitate this due to my increasing suspicion that my classroom computer is dying. It has made mastadon-like noises in the hard drive region of late, and it's eight years old, which in computer world is practically primeval. And it takes forever to boot up. And it no longer likes my Lord of the Rings screensaver. And it cusses at me when it thinks I'm not paying attention. We have long had an adversarial relationship, this computer and I, and now as it goes gently into that good night it is raging against the dying of the light. So letter-needers: See me ASAP. Really.

Today's Curriculum! 'Cause we got some!

Gifted English II: Finally, finally finishing the O. The Great Smother is upon us, and it does beg the question: At what point does someone who was smothered, then uncovered, then gives a speech, which denotes a use of oxygen, seem to unrealistically die? Desdemona embraces her quietus with fortitude and stumbles through a speech before succumbing to the great beyond, but medical scholars and disbelieving audience members alike say What What? Of course, we have to see what happens (if anything) to the dastardly Iago. Life's not fair, kids. Not at all.

APees: We put the F (as in Fun) in FRQ today, oh yes we do, and we apply said FRQness to Jane Eyre. And we will talk more about Jane, and possibly do a close reading of a selected passage. Bronte is so awesome. Like totally.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Today's word: truthiness

Today's weird holidays: I Want You to Be Happy Day, National Anthem Day, Peace Corps Day, and What if Dogs and Cats Had Opposable Thumbs Day?

Gifted English II: Othello, Act III--handkerchief, handkerchief, handkerchief.

APees: Jane Eyre, close reading of the text; 3rd period needs to read "The Chimney Sweep" by Blake; "A Poison Tree" if time permits. Eyre in the Air may well be tomorrow, if the weather holds. Most likely, it will be Friday. And Senior Brag Sheets!!! Prepare to brag about your innate awesomeness.

Celebrate Good Times, C'Mon!

(I love that song; Kool and the Gang rocks.)

Reminders: Hamlet focus paper due tomorrow; make-up work due by Friday (including extra credit for attending The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged); semester exam, part I, is Thursday for seniors. I will distribute the Semester Exam Review Sheet to the sophomores on Friday.

On Friday, we are having a last-day-before-Winter-Break celebration of sorts; I got each of you a tiny memento to commemorate the season, and baked goods are highly recommended.

Four days, guys!!! Say farewell to the "aughts" (weirdest name for a decade ever) and welcome to 2010!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

It's Tuesday; it must be Belgium. (Old joke from an older movie, so don't worry if you miss the reference.)

Gifted English II: Tomorrow will be our last scheduled CMC Reading Day. There will be a check-reading test next Thursday, October 29, which is six days longer a reading deadline than I had originally anticipated. I have character lists to help you if you are having trouble distinguishing between various French persons. Bring your novel and a beverage.

Today, though, is another matter entirely.

Grammar activity (!) followed by more Icarian fun in the form of a response paragraph.

Reminders: Mastery Test for the 120 Terms is Thursday; bring a pencil. It is multiple-guess. And for those of you who tend to leave things lying around in 313: You are ultimately responsible for your textbooks, and so far this year I have collected two dozen or so books from other classes, two very expensive calculators, a cell phone, two iPods, and some expensive make-up compacts from Dior and Chanel. I am glad that you are of a socio-economic class to have such things, but as a fairly materialistic person myself I find myself baffled that you would leave things lying about so cavalierly. Please, please, check your pockets and bags before you leave the classroom--I cannot be responsible for such finery.

APeeps: Further transitional pieces between Mac and Ham, with lecture/discussion thrown in for good measure. Tomorrow is a practice MC session for the AP exam, since we are a teeny bit behind schedule on that (but stunningly ahead of schedule in other ways, so yay) so bring a pencil and your brain. All will be well. Things to contemplate regarding the two tragedies: One is a fallen hero, much in the Aristotilean mode, and the other is a relatively good, if indecisive, man beset by a corrupt universe. Harold Bloom once stated that in writing Hamlet Shakespeare created "the human being," and I often wonder if Hamlet is the beginning of modern literature as we know it now.

Hamlet is certainly someone with whom we can identify, if only for specific qualities. I wouldn't date him. But then, again, I have a celebrity crush on Sam Waterston (the eyebrows are just so expressive) so there is no accounting for taste, eh? I think many of you will find Hamlet appealing in an emo-boy, Death Cab for Cutie kind of way. Or you will want to smack him upside the head. Regardless, the language Shakespeare allows this character to utilize is filled with insight, puns, and ridiculous brainy-ness. Enjoy it for what it is. Oh, and bring a pencil tomorrow. And watch Law and Order at some point and see if you don't find Waterston's eyebrow management somewhat entertaining.

Monday, September 21, 2009

First, my condolences to the BHS Varsity football team. Winter Park is smirking tonight. Just remember that it isn't who wins or loses--it's whomever has the most fun! Right? ::shakes head, hears grumbling, knows this isn't helping::

Many thanks to Stephen C. for making Pirate Pancakes for fifth period on Friday, and to Kristy G. for helping serve them. You guys are awesome! This was a great Pirate Day and I hope everyone had a fun time with the stickers and piratey-ness.

Lessons for Today:

Gifted English II:

Author of the Day: John Keats, Romantic poet and tragic figure. Keats died at 25 after diagnosing his own tuberculosis, and I've always wondered what he could have produced had his life not been so cruelly cut off. His work is mind-blowingly good, from "To a Nightingale" to "Ode on a Grecian Urn."

HW: Define 81-100 on your vocabulary list, and be sure to keep up with the Antigone questions. Also, remember that CMC is due October 23.

Classwork: We need to get caught up with Antigone, Scenes 1 and 2. Come in with your textbook BEFORE the bell rings.

AP Literature:

Mrs. Pearson will be coming to all of the classes today to discuss your futures and distribute your SAIR forms. Please be sure to check those forms very carefully to ensure that A) any FLVS credits are posted, B) your service hours and updated, and C) your test scores have been accurately reported.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Orange and White Day! And National Be a Good Neighbor Day! I'm not entirely sure what that last part means, but it sounds exciting. It probably involves yard work. Or gardening of some kind. Well, just be nice today and everything should be good--eh?

Sophys: Last Literary Terms Quiz, from "simile" to "verisimilitude." And then we jump right back into Antigone and see what's happening there.

APees: MacStuff! And returning a pile of graded work! And going over the new focus paper assignment--the MacPaper. It's not due until next Friday, so you can plan ahead. Sixth period: Senior Panoramic Picture will take up most of the period. You have my condolences, but I hope it's fun anyway!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

According to Eric K., today is Novelty Toy Day. We need holidays to celebrate!

Seniors: Senior T-Shirts are in; you can go by Mrs. Creighton's room before or after school, or during either lunch shift, to pick yours up. It would be great if you could get them before the SENIOR PANORAMIC PICTURE which will be taken sixth period on Friday.

Sophys: The final vocabulary list for literary terms is taught today! And it's not merely a list, people--it's also a deeply moving lecture on the value of the sonnet, both Petrarchan and Elizabethan.

APees: Act II of the Macplay--including the totally awesome Porter sequence.